This completes the trilogy of classic James Hilton novels (the other two being "Lost Horizon" and "Goodbye Mr. Chips") which were all made into movies during Hollywood’s Golden Era. It is the lesser known of the three novels, although “Random Harvest” is his most complete work.

The story is a romance, a mystery, a critique of England’s class structure, and a parable. Hilton uses the lost years of Charles Rainier as a metaphor for the lost years of the 1920/1930’s when England failed to prepare for the next war. Told in flashbacks and bookended by World War I and World War II, the resolution is only revealed in its final sentence that will shock you and change everything that you have just read & thought you understood.

You will go back and re-read the book as your perception of all the characters are altered by the surprise ending…